So, last time we told you how to quickly make (not including 3D printing) one’s own BB-8 robot of the Star Wars and authorize it for minimal functions, such as: rotation and “follow me”. In this article we would like to tell you about the little upgrades we made for it.

We put together a chain of 2 small solar panels (5 volts each). Using a serial connection, we obtain the output power of 10 V and 800 mAh. Not very much, but in a good sunny weather, the robot will work. It is obvious that 800 mAh is the peak power, in fact, it may be less. It all depends on the illumination intensity and the angle of sunlight incidence. But this is not everything yet. For the BB-8 operation we need also a charged phone/tablet. They also need charging. Yes, that’s right. With the same solar panels. There’s one innovation. We decided to add one tidbit – a wireless charger.

We had thought about it for some time already. But we must admit there’s one nuance. A wireless charger consists of two units: a charger itself and a receiver to be connected to the smartphone via a micro USB-port.

Nikola Tesla was the first to deal with the subject of wireless electricity transmission. Just in those early years when Morgan financed the sensational Wordencliff’s project (by the way, the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, or the Tunguska anomaly has nothing to do with the great Serbian physicist). But let’s go back to our wireless charger. There’s some kind of platform with a hidden reel inside, which generates electromagnetic field. Another plate transforming the electromagnetic field into the electric power to charge the telephone is connected to the telephone.

Nonetheless, in the sunny weather the SelfieBot is able to work powered by only three solar panels. It’s understandable, the bigger the panel is the better.
As it is noisier outdoors than indoors, and the telephone/tablet speakers are not powerful enough, we decided to additionally connect to our BB-8 one more passive speaker via mini jack. Yes, via mini jack, because the Bluetooth is engaged to provide the phone/tablet connection with the SelfieBot’s electronics, and we use WiFi to remotely control our BB-8.

In our next article we’ll tell you about some upgrades, particularly, how to make the construction more stable and more noiseless.

This is a list of upgrades we are going to finish in the nearest 2-3 weeks :
1. Improve noise insulation;
2. Improve stability when rotating, liquidate shaking;
3. Add a diode tape to illuminate the eye;
4. Fix an additional speaker inside;
5. Paint it with the original ВВ-8’s colors;
6. Create a more beautiful neck for the robot;
7. Improve the fasteners for a more convenient assembling/disassembling;
8. Create a mount for a wireless charger + telephone (now we use magnets);
9. Create a mount for a GoPro camera.